Martin Luther King Jr. understood the essential role the media played in making his dream a reality.

I finally got around to seeing Selma and was moved, inspired, and as baffled as anyone else by its relative snubbing by the Oscars. I’ll leave the historical, political, and cinematic commentary to others for now, as I want to focus on a little-discussed but, in my mind, absolutely essential aspect of the story: the role of the press. Selma was nothing short of a love letter to the media. In these days in which our industry is challenged and hurting, it’s worth contemplating that for a few...